TSA Questions, Releases, Shoe-Bomb Suspect

If there was a reality show about the TSA, it would play like a comedy. According to writer Annie Jacobsen writing in Women's Wall Street (yes, the same writer who covered the "terrorists" who turned out to be a band of Syrian musicians), security screeners became suspicious of an Arab man traveling under the name Gamal Badawi for several reasons, not least of which the tape and rubber bands festooning his new high-top sneakers.

He claimed to be a student at Iowa State, which was odd because he was 50 years old (maybe he's in Delta House, taking the "long course?" Toga!). The TSA examined Badawi's shoes, which tested positive for explosive residue using TSA's field test equipment (which gives rapid results, but is prone to false positives).

The computer system for checking Badawi's finger prints was down, and ultimately, they decided to let him catch his plane -- in his stocking feet. They confiscated his shoes.

When the TSA handed over their evidence to the FBI, the FBI took the shoes and the excellent pictures of the shoes the TSA agents had taken. Then, they asked for a picture of the suspect.

"Oh. We didn't take a picture of him, just his shoes."

Keystone Cops?

"Gamal Badawi" probably didn't ring a bell with you, and it didn't with the TSA, but the FBI figured it out. It's the name of the Yemeni Al-Qaeda leader who organized the attack on the USS Cole, and then later escaped from prison. (However, this Badawi does not physically resemble that Badawi. And readers are cauutioned that names get recycled a lot in the Arab world, for the most innocent of reasons).
 
The good news is that the FBI determined that there was no explosive residue in the shoes -- the initial test may have been a false positive.

"Badawi" may have been a dry run probe, meant to expose security procedures and techniques to enemy planners, before they begin planning an actual attack. Of it could just have been a case of a guy with weird ideas about decorating his shoes.

Next time, though, they'll take a picture of the guy they question, and not just his Reeboks.

Hey, they promised.

And who can you trust, if you can't trust the TSA?

FMI: www.tsa.gov